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“Oh, cool.”
Yeah, it’s really cool, you douchebag.
I don’t want to go full Neanderthal and pull her into my clutches, but…well, maybe I fucking do. Moving to the other side of PJ, I put my arm back where I wanted it before I had the poor judgment to turn away for an appetizer. Then I pull her closer and stare into her eyes. “You were too far away.” Just for emphasis and to piss this guy off, I kiss her. Friendly atfirst, then deeper, with all the pent-up possessiveness this guy unleashed in me. I don’t fucking care who sees.
When we break the kiss, PJ looks a little dizzy. Good.
She looks at me, then at Trevor. “Um, so…”
The guy doesn’t take the hint. “Yeah. Anyway, Peej, if you have time, I’d still love to continue our conversation from the other day.” He smirks as though the conversation was about anything other than business. I smirk back because I know the truth.
He’s not getting any sort of hint by my possessive grip on PJ, but fortunately for me, she doesn’t seem to mind being plastered against my side.
“Tonight’s a crazy night for me since we’re hosting. Can’t talk about any of that now.”
He nods, grinning at her like the memories are particularly vivid and sweet.
“Sure, sure. We should get drinks soon. Get into it.”
“Sure, yeah.” She clinks her glass against his and turns away from him. I wish she didn’t sound so enthusiastic about having drinks with this dickwad, but at least we’re now out of his orbit.
“Sorry about that,” she says, grabbing two skewers with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil from a tray. She offers one to me and pops a tomato into her mouth.
“That’s your potential investor?” I struggle to keep my tone light. Inquisitive. Like I’m barely interested in Trevor and really disinterested in whatever plans they’ll make after I’m no longer in town.
“You heard Archer. Over his dead body.”
“He seems he’d be okay with that if it meant spending time with you.”
“Yeah.” Her laughter tells me there might be something to it.
“So I’m not wrong.”
“We dated once upon a time, butthatdidn’t go well.” She rolls her eyes as though we both understand how not well it went. All I can think about is that this man was with her—kissed her, touched her, had her in a way I’ve been pretending was all mine—and now I want to murder him.
It’s not rational. Of course I know intellectually that she’s had relationships before I waltzed into town. I know I’m not her first.
But until Trevor showed up, I could convince myself that no other men existed for her before now. I could believe that the look in her eyes each time she comes is mine alone.
I struggle to keep my he-man instincts in check when all I want to do is jump on a table, beat my chest, and tell everyone I gave PJ three orgasms last night.
“Oh yeah?” The croak in my voice betrays how not-casual I feel.
“Yeah. It was years ago.”
PJ is twenty-six years old, so it couldn’t have been that long ago, though if she’s talking about some junior high school crush, I need to cool my jets.
“He seems like an ass,” I say through my teeth. I stare across the vineyard as though I have X-ray vision or something and can see in the dark. Because she’s smart and already knows me, PJ doesn’t buy it for a second.
She turns and looks me dead in the eye, taunting me. “You were glaring at him like you wanted to eat him for dinner.”
There’s no point in trying to deny it. “Yeah. The second he touched you, I felt a jealous streak a mile long. Not a good look.”
“Actually, I kind of loved it.” She licks her lips, flirty.
I swallow over a lump in my throat because I’m falling so hard for this woman. Despite all my warnings to myself and my carefully built walls to block out relationships, she’s obliterating them one by one.
I don’t know what it means for my future, but I’m not going to do a damn thing to get in the way.
